The Canary Islands led the way in providing sunny package holidays for decades. The recovery of their tourism sector after the Pandemic has been stellar, attracting more foreign visitors in 2023 (14 million) than Brazil (6 million) and Australia (7 million) combined. 2024 looks primed to set new records. According to a Canary Island Tourism press release, the sector raked in €19.5bn in 2023, a leap of almost 24% over pre-lockdown figures.
Year-round sun, world-beating occupancy rates, a 4% tax rate for foreign investors and free repatriation of profits attract big hitters to the hotel sector like bees to the proverbial honeypot (circa £1bn in hotel investment last year alone, the highest in Spain).
But when is enough, enough?
The Canary Island government states they have “launched a new transformation strategy” of their tourism model to “[enhance] the capacity of tourism to generate value in favour of Canarian citizens and increase the commitment to climate neutrality", pointing out they have set up a new "Ecological Transition" department to do just that.
However, this department published a report in December 2022 saying the islands have capacity for up to 23m tourists a year, on a handful of small islands in the Atlantic with a population of just 2.2m.
Construction is underway for new "eco resorts", claiming to be the Canary Island answer to the future of sustainable travel. But mammoth luxury developments like La Tejita and Cuna del Alma in Tenerife are besieged by irregular permits, reports of dodgy dealings and greenwashing. Did you know that just whacking in a bike rack gets you points towards your accreditation as a sustainable hotel? No points deducted for destroying heritage sites overnight; expropriating locals for a song; decimating protected, endemic vegetation (no, you can't just "replant them in a garden") or dismantling geological sites that are unique in the world. The list of "irregularities" is as long as your arm, including building on the beach despite a Spanish law forbidding construction within 200m of the sea. Fines have been imposed, but not paid. Legal challenges fall like ninepins and the projects march on.
The new resorts will create jobs of course, but more low paid, precarious jobs that lead to even higher immigration levels to satisfy demand on islands that are reaching saturation point. Last year immigration was up around 10% for a 24% rise in tourism. Upping the figures from 14m to 23m tourists (a further 60% rise) would presumably mean an equivalent rise of 30% in immigration to find a workforce to service them. Where will they all live?
Incredibly, despite decades of mass tourism, the Canary Islands are the second poorest region in Spain. Large resorts cement over beloved landscapes, banish locals from the coast and hoover up limited resources like water while local villages inland suffer shortages and supply cuts in the height of summer. The public hospital in the south of Tenerife still hasn't been finished decades on, but private hospitals are booming; local infrastructure is creaking and traffic jams are a daily headache for visitors and locals alike.
Memories of shortages and poverty prior to the 1980's tourism boom are fresh in the Canarian mindset, stoked by the recent Covid-19 tourism stoppage. But a four-decade mass tourism bonanza enabled by consecutive governments that bent over backwards to offer world-beating terms to foreign investors yet leaves few crumbs behind for locals is hard to swallow. Earlier concerns led to a moratorium on anything other than 5 star or rural hotels being built, which far from taming the beast led to a succession of Gargantuan luxury hotels being built in record time, with a return on investment within two years for some.
In an era where climate change concerns are uppermost, destroying biodiversity is a recognised factor. A new EU directive recognises “ecocide” as “any unlawful or arbitrary act committed knowingly with a high likelihood of causing serious, extensive, or long-lasting damage to the environment” calling for jail terms in the hope of stemming the tide.
The Canary Islands are biodiversity hotspots, with dramatic and fragile environments that are unique in the world. But limited resources are being squandered, National Parks saturated and unique landscapes cemented over under the banner of "sustainable tourism". Presumably once every last vestige of "natural charm" has been destroyed, investors and tourists will move on.
Locals are fighting back, but they do so at a disadvantage. Ex-judges are deployed to manoeuvre their way through the courts and defeat legal challenges at a stroke or politicians hold up their hands saying "it's too late, we'd have to pay investors a multi-million indemnity if we stop the works". Protesters are intimidated and criminalised. It's getting harder to get their voices heard, leading to more extreme behaviour to draw attention to their cause. Six local activists are currently on hunger strike in a bid to stop the La Tejita and Cuna del Alma resorts.
Hoteliers warn locals they're "killing the goose that laid the golden egg" if they speak out. The president of Ashotel, the association of hoteliers in south Tenerife, said in a recent TV interview that the problem is population growth, a lack of infrastructure investment by the authorities and the rise of Airbnb rentals stripping housing out of the market for residents. He lamented: “The model worked well when tourists were bussed straight to the hotel”.
The lack of affordable housing is fast developing into a crisis. Social housing has been low on the agenda for decades, and a news report in “Canarias Ahora” says young Canarians would have to spend 99.4% of their salary on housing if they want to leave home. The average salary in the Canary Islands is the lowest in Spain, around €1,400 a month while accommodation has skyrocketed by 24% in the last 12 months to around €1,000 a month. Take a spin beyond the twinkling lights of the flashy hotels on the strip and witness south Tenerife's new shanty towns of caravans and pallet houses springing up, many for the "Kelly's" or hotel workers on zero hour contracts that can't afford somewhere decent to live despite having a job. According to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics 33.8% of Canarians are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. A third. Take a beat to let that sink in.
Canarians have been warmly welcoming visitors for decades and will continue to do so. And no one wants to stop investors making a healthy profit. But a tourism model that amounts to state-sponsored plunder and ignores the basic rights of locals and their well-being is well overdue for a rethink. After all, what's the point of a tourism model that impoverishes the local population while profits are squirrelled abroad?
Although a 100% sustainable tourism model is unrealistic, it’s time for a rethink. And travellers are onboard. According to a 2023 Sustainable Travel Report published by Booking.com, 76% of British tourists want to travel more sustainably and are not fooled by “just a logo”.
One proposal is that the authorities should impose a tourist tax. But again, the authorities are under pressure: powerful hotelier and constructor lobbies are speaking out against it, fearing it will scare tourists off, and demand an increase instead on the rate of IGIC (similar to VAT (Value Added Tax). In other words, putting the onus right back onto the local population to prop up the system.
If Canarians are taking to the streets on 20 April it's not a "war on tourists", it's an existential cry for survival for their islands, dignity and way of life in the face of unbridled capitalism.
It’s not easy to implement change here: there’s a raft of rules and regulations from local to regional, national and EU level that is often contradictory and difficult to implement. But the Canary Island President Fernando Clavijo has called a meeting of island presidents and Canary Island administrators on 30 April in the hope of finding and implementing solutions. Here's hoping the authorities collectively draw strength from the depth of feeling manifested by locals to implement real change, with the needs of locals at the heart of their new plans. Calling a halt to the La Tejita and Cuna del Alma projects until an independent environmental impact report can be commissioned and openly published could be a great first step. If they’re sustainable, what’s the harm?
Let’s hope heavyweight investors and powerful local lobbies reflect that rather than bully them all into submission, the time has come to live up to their shiny sustainable logos and share a little bit of the proverbial pie. If they pay just 4% tax on profits there’s more than just “a little wiggle room” some investors are pocketing and funnelling out of the islands. Offering contracts and a living wage to the workforce they depend on for their spectacular profits could be a good place to start.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) emphasises the importance of respecting the needs and values of the local population as a fundamental aspect of sustainable tourism. It encourages tourism stakeholders to engage with local communities in a meaningful and respectful manner; emphasising the need to preserve cultural heritage and traditions; contribute to the economic well-being of local communities by providing opportunities for employment, income generation, and business development; share benefits equitably among the local population and promote responsible tourism practices that minimise negative impacts on local communities.
Can you imagine if indigenous Guanche sites and world class landscapes were protected, not bulldozed; all-inclusive hotels worked constructively with local producers to help them to scale up to produce beautiful, organic 0km produce instead of flying in even the bread rolls from the mainland and investment was directed to mitigation initiatives, working collaboratively with local communities?
Think of what could be achieved if future development was limited to refurbishing sites already developed and abandoned leaving ugly carbuncles on the coast and a concerted effort was made to provide social housing for Canarians. In the UK, property developers are often required to include a proportion of affordable housing in their developments, for example.
In other words, it’s not just about a logo and a few well-curated phrases on a website.
Decades ago the Canary Islands led the way developing package tourism for the masses - the eyes of the world are now watching to see if they can take the leap to a more sustainable tourism model that acknowledges the needs of Canarians and their beautiful islands.
GeoTenerife is a science education and research travel company in the UK and Tenerife. The local operation is run by Backhouse’s partner, who was born and lives in Tenerife. They run field trips and training camps in the Canary Islands, which funds their research into key issues. GeoTenerife makes their research accessible via their open access project “VolcanoStories” with a particular emphasis on Sustainable Tourism. Their research is carried out in association with local and international experts and institutions. GeoTenerife strives to employ sustainable practices: their local HQ is a historic property they restored; they work with local suppliers and experts and offer scholarships to local and disadvantaged students. GeoTenerife self-funded “Lava Bombs”, a 4K documentary that critically assesses the 2021 eruption in La Palma. Please visit: (https://rb.gy/occgnr). Contact Tina Fotherby - tina@famouspublicity.com - (0)7703 409 622.
